VK Group C replica

[dgp]

Very cool, great job well done.

 

[Lacksballs]

Hi Scott,

I used your very detailed post as a "blue print" to my project, the gear lever already has the spacer you describe above. I still had to shift the console back by a further 10-15mm as the new spacer just touched the console in 2nd & 4th. I'm using the std "low rise" console & had to heavily modify it to suit the 5 speed console insert & boot (I don't think GM ever engineered a low rise console with a T5???). I even tried a "short shifter" but that fouled with the factory hole & didn't want to cut into the main structure. Thanks again for your detailed information & sharing it with us all here on this site.

 

[Lacksballs]

It was a true labour of love to fit the Group C kit, there were no fitting instructions, bearing in mind it was never released for a road going vehicle. Back in 1984 the closest most of us got to these vehicles was via Ch 7 on TV, the gaps were never perfect nor matching from left to right on the race cars. The more fussier you are fitting the kit the more time consuming it becomes "for every action there is a reaction". You need to be quite committed as once the grinder with the cutting wheel is spinning there is no turning back. The rear wheel arches is where it is most time consuming & mating the rear doors to look like it was factory. I used 6mm stainless bolts, washers & nylock nuts to attach the kit (expect the rear wing which is screwed & urethaned). I elongated the flares which gave me a little adjustment after they were painted when refitting the kit, I didn't glue the flares. I don't recall the hours spent fitting the kit but it seem to take for ever. But once it was painted & all back together it was well worth the effort & you get a sense how "fat" the race cars were. I read recently on this site "it's always harder when you do it yourself" so true in this case.

 

[Darren_L]

top marks mate, awesome replica. I reckon it would turn a lot of heads

And full credit to you for having the persistence to fit the body kit yourself and you've done a great job in lining it all up. I've followed a few threads where people have fitted these kits and they all say they are a royal pain in the arse to fit.

Glad you stayed with the Aussie 5L too.

 

[Lacksballs]

Hi Darren,

Thanks for your reply, it does turn heads. The exhaust note of a carbureted Aussie V8 all channeling through a single 3 inch muffler & tail pipe completes the picture (even at idle)!

 

[vkberlina]

Its better than a replica the body kits were tek screwed on, body shells were gas axed out with an oxy. they didnt give 2 craps about the car as long as it functioned. This is how they should have been built.
As for the shifter, I had to modify my tunnel cover/plate the tunnel was left unchanged. Im planning a revamp of a few things when im well enough to put my car back on the road

 

[Lacksballs]

Hi Scott,

Re gearlever: I used the std cover plate and cut the bottom off by 50mm and added the similar amount of material to the top (which placed the gear lever remote central for the cover plate) & pot riveted it back into original holes on the tunnel. But by using the std lower rubber seal its quite tight and distorting when covering the new spacer & gear lever (I even tried to cable tie the boot to the cover plate to stop it popping off when changing gears)? Did you do the same or did you have a different approach? Above its all fine, as the lever fits perfectly into the outer boot and centralized in the centre console. Did GM/HDT have a different centre console all together with their VK T5 models or was the remote housing shorter on their T5 transmissions?

Did I also read somewhere within this forum that you have upgraded the original speakers in your car? I have replaced the single rear speaker on the parcel shelf with a pair of new 5 1/4 JBL's & have obtained the original Calais dash speakers to retro fit. I don't want a boom box sound just a discrete good sound using the standard appatures Holden designed these cars with (nor do I want to fit door speakers in the door cards). Did you find a good speaker to fit into the Calais housings & did the centre front speaker then become redundant?

Hope you are on the road to recovery soon & can enjoy your pride & joy.

 

[VBRED]

This is what my console set up was. I understand that the T5 surround the hole was further to the back. A plate was used to move the shifter forward This is fitted to a high rise console.

 

[vkberlina]

Post a pic of your colsole cover where the shifter is there were 2 versions.
1 - M2x series 4 speed
2- M76 series 5 speed
The 5 speed one is further back and suits your application better than the 4 speed one.

HDT Didnt use a T5, a T5G was used and is a slightly shorter box, slightly different ratios, different splines on input shaft, I forget if the output shaft was different.

I forget the brand of reads I think I used JL Audio 6x9 on the rear. For the fronts I had a guy rebuild a set of broken calais speakers with new coil and cone. This was done years ago the guy has retired now and closed his hifi shop. He ran an old school hifi shop and did odd ball custom work.

 

[Lacksballs]

Hi Scott,

I used the 5 speed console insert, the problem I faced with my low console was that the manual insert couldn't clip into the tri-matic console. I had to cut the original console to make a hole, then heat the 5sp console insert, curve it to accommodate radius of the console then glue it into place, finally painting it. Maybe my measurements were slightly off (hence why I had to shift the centre console back by 10-15mm).